 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Rockingham Memorial Hospital has been ranked number one in Virginia for
coronary interventional procedures by HealthGrades, the nation’s
leading healthcare ratings company.
“We are thrilled with this acknowledgement of the quality of
our coronary intervention program,” noted Dave Grembi, director,
RMH Heart and Vascular Services. “This ranking is a testament
to years of careful planning as well as to the day-to-day commitment,
care, and diligence of our staff and physicians. It also speaks to
the level of quality we intend to deliver when our cardiac surgery
program begins later this year.”
Coronary intervention, also referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention,
or PCI, is performed to open blocked arteries to the heart.
RMH opened its first cardiac catheterization lab in 1989 to perform
diagnostic procedures. Physicians could determine whether arteries
were blocked, but had to send patients to other facilities for treatment
of the blockages.
In January 2003, with the addition of an interventional cardiologist
to the staff, RMH began performing coronary interventional procedures,
or PCI. PCI involves the insertion of a balloon catheter to open a
blocked artery and often the placement of stents, small metal mesh
“cages,” to hold the artery open. To date, RMH has performed
more than 1,500 cardiac interventions with no deaths, Grembi noted.
In addition to receiving HealthGrades’ highest possible star
ratings for coronary interventional procedures for 2007 and 2008,
RMH also was recognized for all of the following clinical achievements
in Cardiac Services:
|



|
| |
- Five-star rating for Coronary Interventional Procedures, 2007 &
2008
- Five-star rating for Treatment of Heart Attack, 2007
- Five-star rating for Treatment of Heart Failure, 2007 & 2008
- Five-star rating for Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, 2007
- Received the highest possible star ratings for treatment of heart
failure, 2007 & 2008
|
| |
“It is important for our community to know that they can find
high-quality cardiac care at RMH,” said RMH CEO T. Carter
Melton Jr. “The significance of the HealthGrades recognition
is in its indication of the quality of care RMH is committed to
providing.”
The Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study
identifies key trends in the quality of care provided by approximately
5,000 hospitals nationwide. HealthGrades researchers analyzed Medicare
discharges from virtually every U.S. hospital between 2004 and 2006.
Risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates were calculated and
hospitals were assigned a 1-star (poor), 3-star (as expected), or
5-star (best) quality rating for 28 diagnoses and procedures from
heart failure to hip replacement to pneumonia.
“Our research shows that while the overall quality of hospital
care in America is improving, the gap between the best-performing
hospitals and the worst persists,” said Dr. Samantha Collier,
HealthGrades’ chief medical officer and author of the study.
“This persistent gap makes it imperative that anyone planning
to be admitted to a hospital do their homework and seek out highly
rated facilities.”
For
full report details, go to www.healthgrades.com |
|